Five pt 2 - Freedoms Five

(Proverbs 17:24 GN)  “An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.”   (Matthew 6:33)  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”   Title of my message:  Freedom’s Five   1. Prayer.   (1 Thessalonians 5:17)  “Pray continually.”   “I never pray more than 20 minutes but I never go more than 20 minutes without praying.”   (Psalm 68:19)  “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”   o  Time   (Psalm 5:3)  “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”   o  Place   (Mark 1:35)  “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”   o  Plan. (Luke 11:1-2)  “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’  He said to them, ‘when you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.’”   (Jeremiah 29:13-14)  “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.   Prayer connects us to God. Fasting disconnects us from the world.   “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.” -Oswald Chambers   2. The Word.   (Isaiah 40:8)  “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”   Battles – 1 John 4:4, Luke 10:19, Romans 8:37 Money – Philippians 4:19, Psalm 1:1-3 Fear – Psalm 27:1 Sickness – Psalm 103:3 Confidence – 2 Corinthians 3:6 Safety – Psalm 121:8   (Joshua 1:8)  “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Psalm 1:1-3)  “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”   3. Generosity   (Proverbs 3:6-10) “In all your ways acknowledge him…Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”   (1 Timothy 6:18-19) “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”   4. Life-Giving Relationships.   (1 Corinthians 15:33) “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”   (Hebrews 3:13)  “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”   (Hebrews 10:25)  “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”   5. Leadership. (2 Corinthians 5:18) (NLT) “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”   (Mark 16:15 NCV)  Jesus said to His followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.”   (Romans 12:1) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”   (Matthew 18:12-13) "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.